Method of cleaning lubricant containers



W. L. OSBORNE METHOD OF CLENING LUBRIANT CONTAINERS Oct. 25, 1932.

Filed Aug. 21. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 NM. u# .H IIH. H. IIIIIIIIIHII o. NM

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Oct. 25, 1932. w. QSBORNE METHOD 0F CLEANING LUBRICANT CONTAINERS 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filedv Aug.' 21. 192s Patented Oct. 19u32 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM L. OSBORNE, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA., ASSIGNOR TO OSBORNE PROCESS, INC., OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ,A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA METHOD 0F CLEANING .Application ville `August 2 cases, transmission and differential cases of motor vehicles, such asautomobiles, trucks and the like.

The objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter more fully ,appear fromy the following description, butbroadly speak ing the purpose is to provide a method of effectly and quickly cleaning the case con- 'taining the lubricant togetherlwith .the mechanism enclosed in such, case. To this end the invention is carried out, first, by preferably draining otl the dirty 'oil or used lubricant and then forcibly circulating a cleaning oil through the case and around the mechanism contained therein.

I have found that in cleaning a crank case of an automobile, for instance, it is highly desirable that the flow of cleaning oil be controlled at the point of introduction of the cleaning eil to the lubricant container rather..

than at the point of pumpage, as has heretofore been the case. The reasons for this are obvious when the conditions ofcleaning a lubricant container are taken into consileration. The crank 'case is first` drained ofits nscd oil which may b e'caught in a suitable receptacle and pumped to'storage or disposed of in any suitable manner. Cleaning oil may 4 then be introduced into the'crankcase with the engine runningat a moderate speed.

Considerable -windage is set up withinfthe crank case bythe motion of they 'connecting lrods and crank shaft, which opposes'the-en- Vtranf'ze of the clean'ng oil. Assume, for the sake of illustration, that the iiovv of cleaning relatively remote from the-crank case. This aforementioned opposition to'the initial inoil is controlled at the point of pumpage, which,-under the usual conditions would ,be

troduction of the cleaning oil would 4tend to cause a backup -of the. o il in the crank case oil filler`opening, which theoopcrato'r, ifat lthe point of pumpage, sometimes'des not observe until the'oil overflows, drenching the' boutside `of the crank case and wasting oil. Obviousl if the operator was at the point of intro uction of the cleaning oil into the LUBRICANT CONTAINERS 1, 1929. Serial No. 387,293.

crank case this fact would be immediately noticeable, and if a ready means of control was available to the operator at this point, the flow could be'positively and accurately ontrolled.

Accordingly, one of the important features of the present invention resides in passing cleaning oil through a lubricant container, removing the 'sediment and foreign matter therein, passing the cleaning oil from the lubricant container through a pump and a filter 'thence back to the lubricant container, an cont-rolling the flow of cleaning oil at a point remote from the pump Without stopping the pump. "f f l Another important feature of my invention comprises substantially filling a lubricant container Withcleaning oil, interrupting the introduction of the cleaning oil and permitting the cleaning oil to substantially enl tirely drain from the lubricant container and,

ed particles of foreign matter from the lubricant container whilethey are still in suspended condition.' .f

Other and further important objects ofy the invention will be apparent from the acl ,company-ing drawings and followingA description.l In thedrawings, Fig. 1 is'a diagrammatic slde' elevational view, illustrating apparatus forcarrying out the lnethod ofthe present invention.

` )section of the pumpand driving motor.

Fig. 3 1s a cross sectional view taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction.,y

v of the' arrows with the valve housingre` moved. L f' Fig. 4 is afragmentary sectionalpvievvof A the intake conduit.

' Referring 4more in detail to the drawings,

1 designates as a whole an enlarged drum storage tank which may be-provided with base lubricant container by Washing the suspend-` Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary"verticaljustat the time when the iinal quantity of cleaning oil is passing from the lubricant conwheels 2 where the device is portable and a support y3. The drum 1 may be provided with a false bottom 4 which divides the drum longit-udinally into two compartments, an upper 5 storage compartment for used lubricant and used cleaning oil, and a lower compartment for the motor.

Disposed within the lower compartment is' a platform 5, removably supported at oneendr` upon the axle 6 of the wheels 2, by means of an angle-iron 7 retained in position by a bolt 8, and at the other end by the support 3. Mounted upon the platform 5 is a motor 9 having an external electricI connection 10, controlled by switch 11. A duplex lead 12 is connected vat one end to a source of electric current (not shown), whereas the. other end connects with the switch l1 by means of a usual two-prong removable plug 13.

The shaft 14 o f motor 9 may be connected mechanically to an abutting shaft 15 of a gear pump 16, the connection comprising a fiexible coupling 17. The pump 16 is lprovided with aninlet 18 and an outlet 19. gear 20 may be mounted upon one end of the shaft 15 and may mesh with a cooperating gear 2l. Both gears may preferably be of the spiral type. The inlet 18 may communicate with a duct 22 provided in'the housing of' the pump 16, said duct terminating ina port 23, which communicates with the teeth of both gears 20 and 21 immediately below the point where the same mesh. The outletl19 communicates with a duct 24 terminating ia port 25, which in turn communicates with the teeth of both .of said gears, immediately above the point where the same mesh. The housing of the pump is recessed at 26 and 27 wherein the gears 2O and 21 respectively rotate. Oil entering at 18fiows through the duct'22 and port 23 and is carried by the-gears, rotating in the direction indicated by the arrows inA Fig. 3, to the outlet port 25, thence through duct 24 and outlet 19. Y 1

The pump inlet 18 may be arranged to have detachable engagement with a flexible conduit 28, shown best in Fig. 1, the latter being connected to a suitable drip pan 29 inthe manner shown or, if found desirable, the conduit 28 may be directly connected to lubricant container to be cleaned. The inlet of conduit 28 within thel drip-pan may be provided with an elbow 28 having a screen 29 vover its mouth to prevent solid material, such as cotter pins, bolts, metal shavings, or the like, from being drawn through the conduit to the pump and' .eliminating the possibility of injury to the gears thereof. The pump outlet may be' suitably connected to a four-way distributing-valve 30, the latter communicating, respectively, with branch pipes 31, 32, 33 and 34 whereby, upon selective manipulation of the valve 30, any of the branches 32', 33 or 34 may be connected to thepipe 31, or in other words, to the discharge ofthe pump 16.

The branch ^32.1nay communicate with a filter 35 which is especially adapted to filter from the cleaning oil passing therethrough the heavy tar-like substances removed from transmission and differential housings and the like. The pipe 33 may communicate with the drum 1 whereby liquids such as used lubricants or used cleaning oil .pumped by the pump 164 may be directed to the storage drum 1. The pipe 34 may communicate with a filter 36 which may be especially adapted to filter from the cleaning oil passing therethrough the foreign materialremoved from the crank case of the engine. Since the substances filtered outof the liquid by the filter 35 are derived from grease and heavy oils, said filter will hereinafter, for the sake of convenience, -be referred to as grease filter 35, and since the substances removed by the filter 36 are derived from motor oils, the filter 36 will be hereinafter referred to as oil filter36.

A crank case is designated dia ammatically at 37 and is normally provi ed with a filling opening 38 and an outlet or drain39, the latter being normall closed by means of a plug (not shown). flexible hose 4,0 is adapted to have detachable engagement at one end with the discharge 41 of the oil filter 36 while theI other end is adapted to have removable engagement with the filling opening 38. A conventional valve or stop-cock 40 may be interposed in the conduit 40, preferably adjacent the discharge end thereof by which the flow lof liquid into the crank case maybe controlled. The end 40 may be re,- movably connected to the stop-cock 40', the arrangementvbeing such that a spray nozzle .or high velocity nozzle (not shown) may be substituted therefor.

A transmission case is illustrated diagrammatica-lly at y42 and is normally provided with a filling opening 43 normally closed by means of a plug 44 and an outlet drain 45 normally closed by means of a plug 46. A flexible hose 47 may have one end detachably connected to the discharge 48 of the grease filter 35 while the other end is adapted to be dctachably connected to the filter opening 43. v

In carrying out the process comprising my invention as specifically applied, for example, to the cleaning of a crank case, the drip pan 29 is placed under the drain opening 39 and theplug (not shown) removed from the said opening Vpermitting thev used oilto drain therefrom into the drip pan. The pump.. is then set into operation,.draining the used oil from `the pan 29 through the yhose 28 and inlet 18, discharging -it through'the outlet'19, the distributingvalv'e 30 Vat this stage being so manipulated/as to cause the oil to be directed into the .pipe-33 and thence into the drum 1 wherein it is stored.

' Y After the used lubricating oil'has been drained from the crank case 37 and stored in the drum 1, valve 30 is manipulated to with. the pressure side of pump 16.

port may he normally closed by avvalve connect the pump discharge 19 with the pipe 34 leading tothe oil filter 36, and the stopcock 40 closed. A suitable cleaning liquid,

depending in quantityupon the capacity of the crank case to be cleaned, may be poured into the drip pan 29, and the hose 40 connected to the filler opening 38.- This type of gear pump needs no priming, and hence a head of liquid'is stop-cock 40.

When the pump 16 is in operation and the stop-cock 40 is closed, ,the liquiddrawn through the inlet 18 is forced out at the outlet 19 and through the oil filter 36 and into the Vconduit or hose 40. Considerable pressure is then built up upon the pressure side of the pump which, if not dissipated, would stall the motor 9. To eliminate this difculty l provide a port 49 communicaging aid held in seated position byy a spring 51. rl`he valve when open permits communication between the pressure side of the pump and a compartment 52, which in turn is connected to the suction side of the pump by means of a port 53. The compartment 52 may be provided with a removable closure plug 54, slidably disposed in which is a stem 55 of valve 50. ne ,endl of the spring 51"is in contact with the valve 50, Whereas the other end abuts the plug 54.` The plug 54 may be movable in` wardly and outwardly along the longitudinal anis of the stem 55, thereby providing a ready means for adjusting the "compression of the spring 51. To maintain a constant compression ot the spring 51, a key 56 may be provided in registering slots formed in the housing of the pump 16 and the plug 54 at the point of their threaded engagement.. A cap 57 may be threadedly mounted upon the end of the housing of the pump 16. v

When a predetermined pressure is reached on the rassure side of the pump 16, as determined y the compression of thespring 51, the valve O-Openspestablishing communication between the pressure and suction sides et the pump through compartment 52. Hence, while the stop-cock 40 is closed the l pump will continue to operate up to a certain controllable maximum pressure wherejupon the valve 50 opens and the churning or local circulating action occurs,thus reievding the motor 9 from undesirable over- Upon openingthe stop-cock'40 theabnormal pressure in the hose 40 is immediately diminished, permitting. the valve 50 to close under the action of the spring 51 and normal pumping action to be resumed. Hence, liquid under pressure is always available at the nozzle 40, and in addition an operator, after once starting the pump moquickly built up lat the' under the drain 45, and remove the plugs 44 and 46. `The. hose 47 is then engaged with the llingopening 43 in a manner similar to' the engagement of the hose 40 with the crank case 37. In the `event that the voil or or viscous to readily How out of the drain 45, a quantity of light distillate, such as gasoline, kerosene or the like, may be put in -the drain pan 29 and the pumpl actuated 'grease within the transmission 42 is too thick to cause the distillate to be circulated will be diluted or cut, whereby it will readily flow through the opening 45.

When the bulk supply of grease in the transmission case has been removed, the valve 30 is adjusted to connect the pump outlet19 with the pipe 33 whereby the pump 16 will cause the mixture 'of grease and distillate to flow through thepipe 33 into the drum 1 wherein it is stored. When all of 1 the above mixture has been stored in drum 1, the valve4 30 is manipulated to cause the pump discharge `19 to be 'connected to the grease filter 35,

Aresh supply of cleaning oil, such as gasoline or the like, is put into the drip-pan 29 and the pump 30 caused to circulate the same through the grease filter 35and hose l47, being discharged into the transmissionA case 42. The cleaning oil discharges from the transmission case 42 through the drain 45 into thedrip pan 29 from which it is drawn'by the pump 16 and again recycled through the .filter 35 and transmission 42.

It is to be understood that l donotwish tion romsaid lubricant container to a point i 'exterior thereof'and back to said lubricant container, imparting to said cleaning fluid a suction flow for' a limited distance immediately subsequent to removal from the lubricant container, then converting said suction iiow to a positive pressure flow, filtering said cleaning Huid during its passage through the limitedquantity of cleaning fluid to the lubricant container, imparting to said cleaning fluid a cyclic circulation from said lubricant container `to a point exterior thereof and back to said lubricant container, imparting to said cleaning fluid a suction flow for a liinited distance immediately subsequent toremoval from the lubricant container, then converting said suction flow to a positive pressure flow, filtering said cleaning fluid .during its passage through the positive pressure portionl of the cycle, positively controlling the flow of cleaning fluid immediately adj acent its discharge back into said lubricant container, and dissipating any back pressure created because of adjustment of the flow at the point of discharge into said lubricant container by returning excess from the pressure portion to lthe suction portion of said cycle.

'j ing used lubricant from a lubricant containtity of cleaning fluid o the lubricant container, impartingto aid cleaning fluida cyclic circulation from said lubricant container to a point exterior thereof and back to said lubricant container, ltering said cleaning fluid during said cyclic circulation While passing through thevportion of the cycle exterior of said container, maintaining a flow of fluid duringsaid cyclic circulation at apredetermined pressure, positively controlling the flow of fluid immediately adjacent its discharge back into said lubricant container, and dissipating any back pressure created because of adjustment of the flow at the point of discharge into said lubricant container by returning excess cleaning fluid from the pressure portion to the suction portion of said cycle. v 1

4. A process which comprises withdrawing used lubricant from thelubricant container and isolating` said used lubricant, introducing to theplubricant container a limer, thereafter introductipg allimited quanited quantity of cleanin fluid, removing, by

gravity, said cleanin uid from the lubricant container, col ectinV said removed cleaning fluid in a pool, withdrawing cleaningfluid fromsaid pool by suction and imparting a suction flow thereto for a limited distance, then converting said suction flowV to a positive ressure flow, filtering said cleaning fluid uring said positive Apressure flow A processwhich-comprises withdraW-- nesasao lcontainer, and positively controlling the ,amount and pressure of flow to said lubricant container immediately adjacent the point of discharge of saidcleaning fluid into said lubricant container, and dissipating any back pressure created because of adjustment of the flow at the point of discharge to said lubricant container by returning excess fluid from the pressure portion to the suction portion of the cycle.

5. A process which comprises withdrawing used `lubricant from the lubricant container and isolating said used lubricant, in-

-troducing to the lubricant container a limited quantity of cleanin fluid, removing, by gravity, said cleaning fluid from the lubricant container, collecting said removed cleaning fluid in a pool, withdrawing cleaning fluid from said pool by suction and imparting a suction flow thereto for a'limited distance, then converting said suction flow'to a positive pressure flow, ltering said cleaning fluid during said positive pressure flow to remove impurities therefrom, returning the filtered cleaning fluid to said lubricant container, and positively controlling the amount and pressure of flow to said lubricant container by increasing or decreasing said flow immediately adjacent the point of discharge of said fluid thereinto relative to conditions in said lubricant container, and dissipating any back pressure created because lof adjustment of the flow by returning excess from the pressure portion tothe suction portion of the cycle.

6. A process which comprises withdrawing usedslubricant from a lubricant container and isolating the used lubricant, then introducing to the lubricant container a limited quantity of cleanin fluid, imparting to said limited quantity of circulaton from said lubricant container to a zone exterior thereof and back to said lubricant container, filtering said cleaning fluid during said cyclic circulation while passing through the portion of the cycle exterior of said container. Periodically interrupting f the introduction ofI said cleaningfluid and causing the cleaning fluid in the lubricant container to partially drain from said container and,'as the final portion of said cleaning. fluid is leaving the container, resuming 'the introduction of the cyclically traveling same, periodically introducing to the lubricant container a limited quantity of cleaning fluid, periodically interrupting the introduction of vsaid cleaning. fluid, continuously removing by gravity a major portion of the cleaning fluid from the lubricant container, collecting said removed cleaning fluid in a pool, continuously withdrawing cleaning Huid from said pool by suction and imparting a suction flow thereto for a limited distance, then converting said flow to a positive pressure flow, filtering said fluid during the positive pressure flow to remove impurities(` and as the final portion of the cleaning Huid in the lubricant container is leaving the lubricant container, quickly resuming the introduction of a portion of said cleaning fluid, flowing under positive pressure, to the lubricant container.

In testimony whereof` I aflix my signature.`

WILLIAM L. OSBORNE. 

